While the Schwendermarkt area was being renovated the ‘Gebietsbetreuung Storchengrund’ came up with the idea of designing the supporting wall adjacent to the market area. This wall delineates the area from the Mariahilferstrasse which is located higher up. These considerations were prompted by the idea of the market serving as a sort of hub and forum for different social strata and cultures. In the summer of 2004, 72 different languages were registered. With its linguistic diversity, the Schwendermarkt was seen as one of the central points of Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus.
Against this backdrop, the wall, which measures more than 80 meters in length – referred to as the Wall of Language - was painted in a graffiti-like style by young people of different linguistic origins who added their own personal and general texts. A drawing competition was held to select the various texts (aphorisms, poems or pointed short comments) written in Polish, English, Arabic, Turkish, Romanian or Croat. The two artists Christine and Irene Hohenbüchler graphically arranged these texts and then applied them to the wall, helped by Jan Blaschko and Roland Zolle, students at the Academy of Fine Arts.
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The coloring of the joint wall piece in broad format was based on statistics of the languages most represented in the district depicted in a striped pattern. In keeping with the work in the public space and the graffiti-inspired form, the Wall of Language also shows spontaneous traces of sprayers from the neighbourhood. As the product of a complex social process taking place between young people, artists, teachers and district administrators, a mural evolved which is visible over a large area. Here language as a basic tool of communication is addressed. At the same time the idea of a language that is only valid in one specific location is called into question and reference is made to the dynamic coexistence of extremely different linguistic traditions. The multi-lingualism found in many parts of Vienna, often only depicted in the form of statistic variables, becomes visible here in the Wall of Language as a communicative object of possible identity for a diversity of cultures. In any case, however, it also reflects the linguistic diversity existing in the market and its environment. |
Concept:
Michaela Rebel-Burget Gebietsbetreuung Storchengrund
Together with
Karin Hackl Cultural Commission Vienna 15
Roland Schöny Art in Public Space Vienna
Visual Implementation
Irene and Christine Hohenbüchler
Together with
Jan Blaschko and Roland Zolle Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
Competition jury
Lidya Kuzmanovic Vienna Integration Fund
Brigitte Neichl Director, Children’s Museum Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus
Roland Schöny Art in Public Space Vienna
Heinz Wagner KIKU, Kinderkurier
Production assistant
Fritz Eggel
Sponsors
Farbenprofi Hans Hatzl, Reindorfgasse 31
STO, Industriezentrum Süd 2
Stranz GmbH
Vienna Economic Chamber, paint and varnish manufacturers and suppliers
For providing the scaffolding and assistance thanks go to: Wolfgang Bergauer MA 28 and Ruth Lackner Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. |
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Participating schools in 1150 Vienna
Johanna Berger and Ingrid Pröller
Diefenbachgasse secondary school
Angelika Bruhn
Sechshauser Strasse lower-secondary computer technology school (KMS)
Maria Megay
Henriettenplatz secondary school
Petra Lessmann
Reichsapfelgasse primary school
Michaela Rois and Florian Wimmer
Vienna private Islamic secondary school (Verein Solmit)
Private lower-secondary school (KMS) "Schulschwestern unserer lieben Frau"
Private primary school "Schulschwestern unserer lieben Frau"
School children
Issra Abdo, Hawari Abdullah, Yousef Huber, Dunja Saleh and Sarah Yasin
Vienna private Islamic secondary school (Verein Solmit), Form 3a
"Flying Elephant"
David Adamiker
Diefenbachgasse secondary school, Form 5c
"Mother says…"
Duda Ambra
Diefenbachgasse secondary school, Form 5c
"we are not in this world…"
Mohammed Daliah
Diefenbachgasse secondary school, Form 5c
"Network of relations"
Dudu Kara and Katharina Simon
Sechshauser Strasse lower-secondary computer technology school (KMS), Form 2a
"1 hand can…"
Angelika Kaszo
Diefenbachgasse secondary school, Form 5a
"Where 2 are quarreling…"
Hassan Samar
Henriettenplatz secondary school, Form 3b
"Chocolate…"
Marcus Steiner
Henriettenplatz secondary school, Form 3a
"In the midst of…"
Lenka Stepankova
Henriettenplatz secondary school, Form 3b
"Fantasy is…" |
